Solar Energy - Crossing the Chasm

Distinguished Alumni Lecture by SunPower CEO Tom Werner

UW-Madison engineering alumnus Tom Werner, CEO of SunPower Inc. of San Jose, will offer a history of solar energy's 1970s origins to the technological advances that have made it an affordable and widespread force in the energy industry. SunPower makes the world's highest efficiency silicon solar cells, with a sunlight-to-electicity conversion rate of 24.2 percent — compared to the theoretical maximum of 25 percent. Werner will discuss where this breakthrough technology is taking the industry.